Do you use fragrance in your cosmetics products?
Whether you make skincare, haircare, candles, soap, body wash or household care products, you will need to read this!
By the end of this blog you should understand what an IFRA document is, why you need it, when you would need to use it and how to read it!
Contents
- What is an IFRA Document?
- Why Do You Need an IFRA Document?
- How to Read an IFRA Document
- The Difference Between Maximum Level of Use and Usage Rates
- Summary
What is an IFRA Document?
IFRA stands for the International Fragrance Association. They produce 'IFRA standards' which are globally recognised for regulating the safe use of fragrance ingredients.
The IFRA outlines the maximum level of use of a fragrance oil or essential oil for various product categories. It is needed as fragrances are very concentrated oils that can be harmful if a high concentration is used directly on the skin.
Why Do You Need an IFRA Document?
If you do not follow the maximum level of use on the IFRA document, you risk using an unsafe amount of fragrance which could lead to skin irritation or allergic reactions.
The IFRA standards will vary between each fragrance, so you must read the document for the specific fragrance you are using. For example, eucalyptus essential oil is not restricted for all of the categories, but frankincense essential oil has very low maximum levels of use.
You can find the IFRA documents for all of our essential oils in our technical documents folder here.
So any time you are using essential oils or fragrance oils, you must read the IFRA document to check the maximum level of use.
How to Read an IFRA Document
The IFRA document has 3 pages. The first page shows the maximum level of use for different categories.
The second and third pages list exactly what each category is for. These categories are the same across every IFRA document, so after a while you may start to remember what some of the categories are for.
First, let’s look at what the categories mean…
Category
Each category represents a different use for the fragrance from skin care products and soaps, to candles and aerosols.
Here’s a summary of what each category is for and some examples:
If the application you are looking for isn’t mentioned here, check the IFRA document as it has much more detailed explanations!
Maximum Level of Use
This column lists the maximum percentage of fragrance you can use for each category. For example the IFRA above shows 50% for category 3, so you can add a maximum of 50% of fragrance to products applied to the face and body using fingertips.
Not Approved
If a category has ‘Not Approved’ next to it, it means this essential oil cannot be used for that purpose. For the example above, bergamot essential oil is not approved for Category 1 or Category 6, which are both related to lip products.
Not Limited/ Not Restricted
If the category has ‘Not Limited’ or ‘Not Restricted’ next to it, this means the fragrance has no maximum level of use. So essentially the oil can be used up to 100% for that category. However, we still don’t recommend adding this much to any application.
The Difference Between Maximum Level of Use and Usage Rates
The maximum level of use on the IFRA document means you cannot use any more than it says on the IFRA, but it is not a guideline for how much to use.
On many IFRA documents you will notice they have really high percentages like 75%, 100% or Not Limited. This is not a recommended usage rate! No products should ever require such a high percentage of fragrance.
For most applications, there are common usage rates you can follow. If you are using pre-made bases, like melt and pour base or castile soap base, they will have their own fragrance usage rates.
If the maximum level of use on your IFRA document is the same as or higher than the usage rate for the product you are making, then you can add as much as the usage rate says. For example, bergamot essential oils maximum level of use for cold process soap making (category 9) is not limited, but the recommended usage rate for essential oils in cold process soap making is 3.5%, so you can add up to 3.5% of bergamot essential oil to your soap.
However, some fragrances have lower maximum levels of use than the recommended usage rates. For example, ylang ylang essential oils maximum level of use for cold process soap making (category 9) is 1.4%, but the recommended usage rate is 3.5%. You can only add 1.4% of ylang ylang essential oil to the soap and you must not go above this!
Summary
It is so important to check IFRA documents for the fragrances you use to ensure you are using a safe amount that won’t cause harm.
All you need to do is find the IFRA for the fragrance you are using, look at the category related to the product you are making, look at the maximum level of use for that category and you're done! Now you know the maximum amount you can use, you can formulate your recipe safely.
Continue Reading
Now you know how to read an IFRA document, why not continue reading?
- Ready to use essential oils? Learn about the different essential oil notes!
- Want to use essential oils in a cold process soap recipe? Try our mango soap recipe!
- Learn how to use essential oils in candles with our autumn candle recipe!
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